If you have an emergency call 911!

National Fire News

New York baby’s death reopens ALS ambulance controversy

The recent death of a baby girl has led Alderman Mark S. Devine to demand that the city restore the legal ability of firefighters to perform advanced life support techniques. Devine, a retired assistant fire chief, said at Wednesday’s Common Council work session that he wants a vote next week on applying to the state Health Department to restore that license.
- PUB DATE: 6/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: buffalo news

Rhode Island Supreme Court sends firefighter's pension bid back to Providence Retirement Board

The Rhode Island Supreme Court says the Providence Retirement Board erred when it denied a city firefighter's petition for an accidental disability pension. In quashing the board's denial of Michael Morse's 2012 petition, the court ruled that the board "misconstrued" a city ordinance when it based its decision on a "self-imposed unanimity rule.
- PUB DATE: 6/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: providence journal

Hundreds Evacuated as Wildfire Rages Near Arizona Town

Hundreds of people evacuated their homes as a wildfire raged near the Arizona town where a 2013 blaze killed 19 members of an elite firefighting crew. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Dolores Garcia said 250 to 300 people left their homes in the town. The fire grew to 600 acres, but crews expected it to ease somewhat during the overnight with cooler temperatures and higher humidity.
- PUB DATE: 6/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc news

Florida fire chief pursues fire safety 40 years after relatives killed in house blaze

July 4 marks the 40-year anniversary of the house fire that killed Pete DiMaria's mother, brother, sister and grandfather. DiMaria was just 11 years old when it happened at his house in Pompano Beach. The fire sparked overnight. He still doesn't know how it started. His grandfather tried rousing the family awake, but the smoke knocked them out.
- PUB DATE: 6/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: naples daily news

Los Angeles Fire Dept proposes program for alcoholics who overuse 911 system

They’re called “superusers,” and in 2015 alone, the top 40 superusers in Los Angeles accounted for about 2,000 emergency responses. “When ambulances are responding to these individuals — sometimes the same individual two times a day, taking the same patient to an ER twice in one day — that ambulance is not available to respond to the rest of the community,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Medical Director and physician Marc Eckstein.
- PUB DATE: 6/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPCC-FM

Virginia fire chief found dead in creek

Botetourt County Fire & EMS Chief Jeff Beckner died Friday morning at the age of 57. Beckner worked in fire and EMS for more than 30 years, and he was known for his strong leadership and hands-on style. He worked in Roanoke before becoming chief in Botetourt County in September 2014. “He’s the kind of fire chief that doesn’t come around very often,” Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said.
- PUB DATE: 6/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Roanoke Times

Follow Up: Wireless Companies Join Tech and Security Firms for Big Bid on Emergency Spectrum

Companies spanning the telecom, tech, and security industries announced a partnership on Tuesday that seeks to win a $6.5 billion contract to build a national emergency network. Their bid also contains a major economic twist that could, if successful, see the companies shake up how companies buy and sell precious wireless spectrum.
- PUB DATE: 6/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: fortune.com

5 Alabama firefighters injured in fall from balcony during training exercise

Five Huntsville firefighters were injured Tuesday morning when a balcony collapsed from under them during a training exercise. The incident happened around 10:15 a.m. as Huntsville Fire & Rescue participated in the last day of fire training at one of three donated structures at 4020 Independence Drive.
- PUB DATE: 6/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: al.com

D.C. firefighters’ quick diagnosis of stroke victim helps save life

Yvonne Johnson was home in Silver Spring one afternoon last month when she got word her husband of 58 years had collapsed of a stroke. She ran across the street to a neighbor, who drove her to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Northwest Washington. By the time she arrived at the Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospital, Ramon Johnson, 77, was nearly alert, and doctors said he had an excellent chance of making a strong recovery.
- PUB DATE: 6/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: washington post

North Carolina firefighter killed while diving during search for man on lake

A firefighter was killed Monday during a search for a man who went missing on Lake Norman over the weekend. Two other divers were also injured. Officials have not said exactly what happened during the search, but confirmed that 28-year-old firefighter Bradley Long, who went into the water earlier Monday searching for a missing 29-year-old man, was killed.
- PUB DATE: 6/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTV-TV Channel 3

New Dallas Fire-Rescue chief named

A former Round Rock fire chief has been named Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief, the city announced Monday. David Coatney has also served in the San Antonio Fire Department for more than 25 years. "We have an incredible group of leaders within Dallas Fire-Rescue and I'm confident that David Coatney's background of service will be a tremendous asset to the City of Dallas," Dallas City Manager A.
- PUB DATE: 6/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 4 News

Rivada Mercury unveils key partners of team pursuing FirstNet contract

While others seeking to build a nationwide public-safety broadband network for FirstNet remain silent, the one publicly confirmed bidder today announced that its legal name will be Rivada Mercury and identified several key partners on its offeror team. Led by Rivada Networks, Rivada Mercury includes more than two dozen companies that will form a “first-rate” team that will be dedicated to the FirstNet project to build and maintain a nationwide public-safety broadband network in the United States, according to Rivada Networks CEO Declan Ganley.
- PUB DATE: 6/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: urgent communications

Two New York Departments Cutting Career Staff in Favor of Volunteers, Medics

Long Island’s only two paid fire departments are trimming budgets by scaling back staff firefighters in favor of paramedics and volunteers. For many decades, Long Beach and Garden City have boasted departments staffed by professional firefighters. But elected officials have been gradually reducing the ranks of paid firefighters, eyeing the departments as a key source of savings.
- PUB DATE: 6/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

Tougher laws proposed to protect first responders in Chicago

Nearly three years after the I-Team exposed regular attacks on Chicago paramedics, a new city ordinance is finally in the works to protect them and all first responders. Under the proposed ordinance, city hate crime laws would be expanded to protect police, fire and EMS crews. Paramedics say that incidents that keep them from doing their jobs and endanger their lives happen roughly once a day.
- PUB DATE: 6/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago

Retiring California fire chief remembers a long career

Retiring Escondido Fire Chief Mike Lowry remembers one traffic accident call back in 1992 that changed his life. Already with the city’s fire department for a decade, Lowry was the captain of a truck company that responded to a head-on collision on East Valley Parkway. A mother and her two twin little girls had been headed into town to buy things for the twin’s upcoming birthday party when an impaired driver crossed into their lane.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: san diegoo union tribune

Florida fire department to be investigated for 'toxic work environment'

A Tallahassee law firm has been tasked with investigating firefighter allegations that “a toxic work environment” exists within the Ocean City-Wright Fire Control District. The department review by the firm of Allen Norton & Blue was authorized Thursday by the district’s five-member governing board. It follows receipt of formal complaints lodged against Fire Chief Billy Lord and Assistant Chief Scott Funchess by at least four firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Florida Daily News

'Mosier really dodged a bullet': Oregon gorge derailment highlights oil train dangers

Eight-hundred feet in either direction, and Friday's oil train derailment outside the small Columbia River Gorge city of Mosier might've sent flaming tank cars into a lake in a National Scenic Area. A half-mile east, and the inferno would've burned a few feet beneath a block of modular homes. Another mile-and-a-half, and leaking tank cars would've landed on the bank of the Columbia River during peak spring chinook salmon migration.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the oregonian

Groundbreaking study finds incremental alarms better for firefighter heart rates

It's a major risk factor facing firefighters, work-related heart attacks. But a new study out of Beloit could help reduce that job hazard. It shows ramped-up tones keep heart-rates from climbing to extreme highs. "We looked at the startle response and we looked at ways to gently wake them as opposed to suddenly waking them," Dr.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

Illinois fire department wants to expand advanced life support service

The turf war between Advanced Medical Transport Inc. of Central Illinois and the Peoria Fire Department, dormant for many years, could be heating up again. Nearly a decade ago, the two sparred over which entity would provide paramedic service and patient transport within the city limits. AMT reached an agreement with the city in which it was to pay $85,000, adjusted annually for inflation, for exclusive patient transport in Peoria.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Star

Federal judge upholds Alabama fire chief's wrongful termination claim

A federal judge has upheld a wrongful termination claim filed by Pike Road Volunteer Fire Protection Authority’s former chief. Mike Green, the plaintiff, brought charges in April 2015 against the Authority for disability discrimination and against Jane James, one of the Authority’s directors, for slander.
- PUB DATE: 6/3/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: montgomery advertiser

Pages

How can you help?

We are volunteer organizations and are funded primarily through generous donations from the community.  We also need help at our fundraising events.

We welcome new firefighters and EMT's.  We can provide you with training through the Wisconsin Technical College System.

To find out more about joining or other ways to help contact us or come to a meeting!